EIT Food: fighting the climate crisis with agrifood innovation
Greenhouse
When you consider the climate crisis, you might automatically label industrialisation, transport or fossil fuels as responsible, but what about food production and consumption?
Picture source: EIT Food
A complex amalgamation of unsustainable practices, long-distanced supply chains, food loss and waste, dietary and consumption trends and countless other factors all come together to form what has now become one of the world’s largest contributors to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
In fact, food production currently amounts to approximately a quarter of global GHG emissions; a figure which could double by 2050 if no changes are made and the population reaches 10 billion as currently predicted.
The World Resource Institute says this could release enough GHG emissions to exceed the 1.5°C and 2°C warming targets set in the Paris Agreement – even if emissions from all other human activities were entirely eliminated. Substantial change needs to happen within the food system now. But how?
EIT Food
Greenhouse has been working with EIT Food, Europe’s leading food innovation initiative, to try and foster this change. EIT Food is building an inclusive community of agrifood entrepreneurs, corporates, academia and other partners to collaboratively transform the food system to become healthier, trusted and more sustainable.
The EIT Food network supports startups and entrepreneurs at different stages and offers tailored expertise, mentoring, investment opportunities and media exposure to help them develop their ideas and bring about real change in the food system, faster. It also hosts a range of education courses and public engagement initiatives to spread the word and allow change to occur at all levels, from farm to fork.
Working across six core themes of sustainable agriculture, sustainable aquaculture, alternative proteins, targeted nutrition, digital traceability and circular food systems, EIT Food is a real champion of forward-thinking and futureproofing. Greenhouse is honoured to help them amplify their vision and drive positive change in the food sector.
So far on this journey with EIT Food, Greenhouse has been working across two internal teams – digital and media – to deliver integrated campaigns, assets and content.
An Infographic example created by Greenhouse for blog on the Farm to Fork strategy.
A standout highlight was the launch of EIT Food’s COVID-19 Bridge Fund – an investment of over €5 million to support 13 innovative agrifood startups during the pandemic. The launch secured 26 pieces of coverage with almost one million combined estimated views.
Article in the Guardian (digital version)
EIT Food also secured an article in the Guardian which celebrated World Food Day and some of the amazing work that EIT Food’s entrepreneurs have done throughout COVID-19.
Alongside blog development (including pieces on Zero Emissions Day and World Food Day), Greenhouse is also working with EIT Food to deliver several ongoing campaigns. Examples range from regenerative agriculture to EIT Food’s annual Venture Summit where the EIT Food community comes together to share ideas, hear leading entrepreneur pitches and explore collaboration and investment opportunities.
With conventional farming, crops & livestock are traditionally kept separate. #RegenerativeAgriculture combines the 2 in circular ecosystems, with the animals feeding the plants & vice versa.🐄🌱
— EIT Food (@EITFood) September 24, 2020
Some farmers think this is key to farming more sustainably. https://t.co/DAP2rZVNR9 pic.twitter.com/DFEDHOUl1Y
In the run up to the 2020 (virtual) event, Greenhouse has developed a number of toolkits and assets to ensure the event runs as smoothly as possible, including a short video series, a digital toolkit, blog content, infographics, social assets, press releases and more.
Looking ahead, our work with EIT Food is set to continue and evolve into the new year and beyond. There are more interesting and changemaking campaigns to come, such as the annual Future of Food conference which will bring together policymakers and other key stakeholders active in agrifood research, innovation and education, and the launch of the TrustTracker which measures and maps European consumers’ trust in the food value chain and its actors.
What are the opportunities and challenges of investing in the future of food? 🍲 How can the #agrifood sector contribute to setting the European economy on a more sustainable & resilient track? Join us #ImprovingFoodTogether on 1-2 December: https://t.co/mJrNjOzn7z #FutureFood20 pic.twitter.com/CRvpvOJoPq
— EIT Food (@EITFood) September 8, 2020
EIT Food’s mission to transform the food system is sure to continue, and Greenhouse is looking forward to supporting the inspiring team and community into the future.
Greenhouse also supports several other leading organisations in the food sector that are working to make positive changes to the way we value, produce and consume food. Find out more here.
